With the NBA offseason well underway for the Dallas Mavericks, there’s been a lot of speculation and rumors swirling around the league regarding the immediate future of superstar guard Kyrie Irving, who will hit NBA free agency.
Although Irving could end up back with the Mavericks and play alongside fellow superstar Luka Doncic for the next few years, the Los Angeles Lakers continue to loom large as potentially being his next team.
The Lakers have been linked to Irving for the last few years, with LeBron James wanting to reunite with his old Cleveland Cavaliers teammate and the team needing some stability in the backcourt.
Along with Irving being seen sitting courtside at playoff games in Los Angeles and James endorsing the team going after the one-time NBA champion, Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy is very close to the 31-year-old and recently gave him the highest compliments, via Speak Context.
“He’s the most skilled player to ever put on basketball shoes”
– Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy on Kyrie Irving 😳 pic.twitter.com/7kYivjBGjP
— ⁶ (@SpeakContext) June 1, 2023
For context, Handy is not calling Irving the greatest player of all time and putting him above players like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and James.
He is simply saying that Irving is the most skilled player ever to play, which isn’t a crazy thing to say considering everything that he can do on the court with a basketball.
Although some will likely disagree with Handy’s strong statement, there’s no doubt Irving makes a strong case for the distinction.
This debate aside, it’ll be interesting to see where Irving lands this summer and if ending up on the Lakers with James is a real possibility moving forward or just a pipe dream.
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